Rams softball hosts New Mexico at Ram Field

April 24, 2008

Game 42 | Colorado State vs. New Mexico
April 26, 2008 | Fort Collins, Colo. | 1 p.m. MT

Game 43 | Colorado State vs. New Mexico
April 27, 2008 | Fort Collins, Colo. | 1 p.m. MT

This Week...
The Rams close a seven-game homestand this weekend against conference foe New Mexico.  This will be the first time that New Mexico and Colorado State play in Fort Collins since the 2006 season due to inclement weather last season that forced the two teams to play four games in Albuquerque, N.M. 

The Lobos captured the first two games of the season series, April 12-13.   The Rams will look to avenge those losses - 15-4 and 4-1 - this weekend at Ram Field.  The Rams trail the Lobos 44-39 in the all-time series. 

The teams will play one game each day on Saturday and Sunday, both beginning at 1 p.m.

About New Mexico...
The New Mexico Lobos travel to Ram Field with a 21-18 overall record, including a 4-6 mark in MWC action. Lindsey Elcess leads the team with a .376 batting average, playing in all 39 games.  She has recorded eight doubles, nine home runs and 28 RBI on the season with 22 runs scored.   Hurler Kelly Ninemire leads the Lobos in the circle with a 3.70 ERA in 147.2 innings pitched she has 112 strikeouts while walking just 35 batters.

The Big Five...
Offensively, Colorado State boasts an impressive team batting average (.312) and has recorded a team slugging percentage of .521 on the season.  Five Rams (Caitlan Stem, Lauren Cusick, Julia Kloppe, Ashley Munoz, Allison Majam) are leading the way, currently batting over .300, with Cusick (.404) leading the Mountain West Conference.  Those five players have accounted for 71.1 percent (123 of 173) of the team's RBI and are also responsible for 79.1 percent (34 of 43) of the team's home runs.

Yori's Coaching Milestones...
Head Coach Mary Yori, who earlier this season coached in her 1,000th-career game (vs. Utah State, March 8) and won her 200th game at CSU (vs. Texas - San Antonio, Feb. 15), coached in the 400th game of her career at CSU in Game 1 against BYU on April 4. Yori enters Saturday's game vs. New Mexico with a career record of 674-351 (.658) and is 215-193 (.527) at CSU.

Kiss it Goodbye...
Colorado State is currently in second place in the MWC with 54 home runs.  That mark places the Rams fourth in the nation on the home runs per game chart behind Arizona, Arizona State and Jacksonville State.  Senior Lauren Cusick is tied for the conference lead and leads the team with 16 home runs.  She surpassed Ashley Munoz's record 14 single-season homers last weekend against UNLV in Game 2 of the televised doubleheader.  Cusick also surpassed former Ram Brittany Huerta for the top spot on the all-time home run chart at Colorado State two days later against No. 19/20 San Diego State.  Cusick now has 34 career home runs.

Two-Out Rally...
As a team, Colorado State is batting at a .309 clip this season with two outs and 43 percent (88 of 207) of the team's RBI this season have come with two outs in an inning.  Freshman Caitlan Stem leads the team with a .563 average (18-for-32) in two-out situations.  She is followed by senior Lauren Cusick with a .429 (15-for-35) average.  Stem has also recorded 17 of her 33 RBI with two outs while Cusick has recorded nine of her 33 RBI with two outs.

Score Some More...
Through 41 games, Colorado State's offense ranks 19th in the country, averaging 5.76 runs per contest.  The Rams scored 37 runs in five games (7.4 runs per game) last week to begin their seven-game homestand.  The CSU offense started strong on April 16 against in-state rival Northern Colorado, scoring 11 runs on nine hits. The offense continued on Friday against UNLV when the Rams scored a combined 21 runs in the doubleheader. Both of the games were decided in the bottom of the seventh inning with clutch hits from sophomores Kayla Kreutzman and Robyn Mask.   Kreutzman hit a bloop single to left field to plate sophomore Sarah Sullivan for the Game 1 win.  Mask hit a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh in Game 2 to give the Rams the 7-6 victory.  

In the Record Books...
The 2008 squad is closing in on several single-season records.  As a team the Rams are currently tied for the top spot with the 2004 squad with a .521 slugging percentage.  They are also in third place in batting average with a .312, just  .015 points behind the 2004 squad that sits in first place. Colorado State needs five more round-trippers to sit in the second spot and surpass the 2004 squad that hit 58 on the season.

Cusick on the Charts...
Senior Lauren Cusick has already surpassed teammate Ashley Munoz with 16 single-season home runs and former Ram Brittany Huerta for the all-time home run record with 34, but she is also in position to break more single-season and career records before her senior season is complete.  She is currently in fourth place with 50 runs scored on the season and needs just 10 more to surpass former Ram Jennifer Buford (1997) for the record.  Cusick also needs five more doubles to surpass her former teammate Jessica Strickland (2005) for the top spot.   In her career at Colorado State, Cusick has 200 starts and 200 games played and only needs nine more to surpass Kerry Farrell (2002-05) and Stephanie Roberts (2002-05), who each have 208 games started and games played in their career.

Rams in national rankings...
As of statistics released April 20 by the NCAA, the CSU softball team ranked among the Top 25 programs in the country in several categories, including:

Home runs per game:  4th (1.32)
Slugging percentage:  7th (.521)
Doubles per game:  10th (1.73)
Batting average:  18th (.312)
Scoring:  19th (5.76)

Power top to bottom...
This season has been one of the most dominant offensive performances by a CSU team in school history, as the Rams have racked up 54 home runs in just 41 games.  Twelve different players have hit home runs for Colorado State this season, led by senior Lauren Cusick's school-record 16.  No other team in the Mountain West Conference has had more than 10 players homer this season.  BYU, New Mexico and UNLV rank second with 10 players homering, while Utah (7) and San Diego State (6) rank last in the conference.  

On Deck...
Colorado State heads out on the road for four conference games in three days, May 2-4.  The Rams begin the trip with a doubleheader at San Diego State on May 2.  Game 1 is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. MT.  The Rams then travel to Las Vegas, Nev., for two single games against the Rebels on May 3-4.  The May 3 game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. MT, while the May 4 contest is slated for 2 p.m. PT. 

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